NCT05929898

MRI Neurofeedback and Brain Circuits Related to Motivation in Healthy Participants

Bridging Scales to Understand Endogenous Neuromodulation and Its Regulation

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 190 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Duke University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this research study is to understand how healthy individuals self-regulate motivation by observing brain activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Detailed description

Neuromodulatory nuclei detect and transform brain network activity into simpler signals, then send neurotransmitters back out to large-scale brain networks to change their function. Such nuclei are centrally implicated in mental disorders and adaptive resilience, and their regulation remains an untapped resource for interventions. The purpose of this study is to understand how neuromodulatory nuclei detect and in turn influence distributed patterns of brain activity to impact behavior. In order to understand their regulation and effects on brain function, the investigative team has developed novel neuroimaging, behavioral, and analytic methods. These methods include: training participants to endogenously self-regulate dopaminergic midbrain and then relating midbrain activation to memory-conducive states, effort exertion, and decision making. If the aims of this project are achieved, the investigators will have methods for regulating midbrain noninvasively, an improved understanding of its impact on learning and motivated behavior, and reliable cognitive strategies for a wide array of interventions across educational and clinical applications.

Conditions

• Motivation
• Memory
• Self-regulation

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Ventral tegmental area of dopaminergic midbrain (VTA) fMRI neurofeedback	fMRI neurofeedback training of sustained midbrain/VTA activation via motivational imagery.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-07-30
• Primary completion: 2026-09-08
• Completion: 2026-09-09
• First posted: 2023-07-03
• Last updated: 2025-08-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States